Loose-leaf binder device



, Jan. 25, 1944. s, LAZAROFF 2,340,129

LOOSE LEAF BINDER DEVICE Filed Feb. 18, 1943 gr I V INVENTOR T 1- SAMUEL LAZAROFF I ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 25, 1944 LOOSE-LEAF BINDER DEVICE Samuel Lazarofl", Fall River, Mass, assignor to Elbe File & Binder 00., 1110., Fall River, Mass, a

corporation of New York Application February 18, 1943, Serial No. 476,294

4 Claims.

This invention relates to loose leaf binders, and particularly to binding post locks-for maintaining the complementary cover members in predetermined relation.

Among the various conventional loose leaf binders is the type whose cover members are provided with binding posts and cylindrical receptacles adapted for detachable telescopic engagement, perforated loose leaf sheets being operatively held by the telescopically engaged members. In order to maintain the complementary cover members in various predetermined positions with respect to each other so as to accommodate packs of loose leaf sheets of different thicknesses, certain locking mechanisms have heretofore been employed in conjunction with the loose leaf binder. These devices are generally inherently intricate in construction, involving considerable expense in manufacture, requiring cautious or skillful manipulation, and being readily subject to breakage or maladjustment. It is primarily within the contemplation of my invention to provide a locking mechanism of the abovedescribed category that is simple in construction, easily fabricated, easy to manipulate and rugged in structure.

It is an important object of my invention to employ simple friction means to hold the coacting locking members in engagement in any predetermined position, and to enable the ready release of the frictionally engaged parts to be efiected by a simple manual manipulation.

I And it is another object of my invention to enable the frictional holding means to be released upon a drawing together of the telescopically engaged parts, thereby permitting the complementary cover members to be brought closer together merely by the operation of pressing said members together.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawing and the description hereinafter given.

"Referring to the drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, of an open loose leaf book containing my invention, the complementary parts being shown in a position wherein the cover members are being separated.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section of Figure 1 taken along line 2-2 thereof.

. Figure 3 is a fragmentary section of a loose leaf book, similar to that of Figures 1 and 2, shown in-its closed position.

1 Figure 4 is a section, taken substantially along line4-4- of Figure 1, showing a longitudinal sec-- tion of the locking member, certain of the parts being shown in their retracted positions by dotdash lines.

Figure 5 is a section of Figure 4 taken along line 5-5.

Figure 6 is a disassembled perspective of the actuator and locking element shown in Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary semi-diagrammatic section showing the locking element in frictional binding engagement with the coasting post, and

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 7 showing the parts in their released positions.

In the drawing, the complementary cover members ill and H are provided with transverse preferably rigid walls or plates l2 and I3, respectively, these being preferably at right angles to the overlapping backs l4 and I5 of the cover members a1 manner.

coacting plate I9 carrying the tubular membersor receptacles 20 and 29a in telescopic engagement with the posts It and ll, the arrangement. being such that the distance of plate It from plate l2 can be varied merely by slidably manipulating the said telescopically engaged members.

Preferably at the medial portion of plate 12 is fixedly secured the locking post 2i, parallel to the posts i6 and ii. for frictional engagement with the mechanism within tube 22, as will more fully hereinafter appear, said tube 22 extending through aperture 23 in plate l9 and being secured, by means of flange 24 and rivets 25, to the plate 93 on cover member ll.

Disposed within the locking tube 22 is the slidably movable actuator 26 consisting, in the form illustrated, of an enlarged cylindrical portion 21 containing a forwardly extending lip 28 and a rearwardly extending axially disposed stem 29. Within the body of said actuator is the axial hole 30 adapted to slidably accommodate the said locking post 2|, said hole 30 extending through the enlarged body portion 21 and a portion of the stem 29, whereby the actuator is accordingly of substantially hollow construction.

The lip28 contains therein an-aperture 3| diametrically opposite aperture 32 in the locking tube 22. Said apertures are pr t d to a mmodate the extensions 33 and 34 of the locking This post is adapted disc 35. In the form shown, said locking disc is circular in configuration, the extensions 33 and 34 thereof being on diametrically opposite sides thereof, the disc further containing the hole 36 in substantial registry with the hole 33 and adapted to operatively accommodate the said locking post 2|. The size of said hole 36 is such as to permit a ready relative movement between the said locking post and the lateral wall of the hole 36 when the disc is substantially at right angles to the longitudinal extent of the inserted locking post 2 l, as Figure 8 indicates. But when the looking disc 35 is tilted so that it is disposed obliquely with respect to post 2|, the edges 31 and 38 of the wall of hole 36 will engage the post 2| and frictionally hold it against relative movement.

Disposed over the stem 29 of the actuator is the helical spring 39, one end abutting against the shoulder 40 of the enlarged portion 2'! of actuator 26, and the other end against the plate I2. The spring is so arranged and proportioned that it normally urges the actuator 26 forwardly so that the locking disc is normally in its forwardly inclined locking position, as clearly shown in Figure 4. The rear of Stem 29 extends through opening 4| in the said plate l3, the rearmost extremity containing the ring 42 for manual manipulation.

In the full-line position of the actuator as shown in Figure 4, it is apparent that the post 2| is in frictional engagement with the locking disc 35, so that there can be no relative movement between the post 2| and the tube 22. As aforesaid, the normal arrangement is such that said members 2| and 22 are in locked relation.

Should it be desired to release the parts fromv their locking engagement, a pull is applied to the ring 42 rearwardly against the action of the spring 39. This will cause a retraction of the actuator 25 until the shoulder thereof comes into abutment with the indenture 43 in the wall of the tube 22, as shown by the dot-dash position in Figure 4. The said indenture serves as a stop to limit the rearward movement of the actuator to this rearmost position; and in this position, the locking disc 35 is in substantially normal or perpendicular relation to th post 2 thereby permitting a free relative movement between the post 2|, the member 22 and the associated parts. It should be observed that the wall of the hole 32 in the tube 22 serves as a pivotal support for the extension 34 of the locking disc 35, the wall of the tube adjacent said hole 32 serving to support theundersides 46 of the locking disc 35.

In this manner, with the ring 42 pulled out as push'together said members with respect to each This will cause the locking post 2| to force the disc 35 rearwardl'y, and consequentlyother.

cause a retraction of the actuator 28 against the action of spring 39. It has been found that this retraction .invariably occurs, inasmuch as the post 2| and the wall of hole 38 are in engagement when the retracting force is being applied. This frictional engagement causes a retraction of the locking disc due to the transmitted force applied in pressing together the cover members iii and- H It is thus apparent that the relative position between the locking post 2| and locking tube 22 can be varied either by applying a pull to the ring 42 (preferably for disengaging the cover members from each other), or by pushing the cover members together so as to force post 2| into the hole 38 within the actuator 26.

By thus varying the position between post 2| and tube 22, the distance between plates l2 and I3 can correspondingly be varied. Once a desired positioning between plates I2 and I3 is obtained, the plate l9 can be operatively brought into proximity with wall l3 to provide (in the form illustrated) three longitudinal loose leaf supports of equal length. That is, the telescopic assemblies of members I! and 20a, 2| and 22, and I6 and 20 will be of equal length, so that they can conveniently support the loose leaf sheets 44 operatively positioned thereover. It is preferred that the diameters of the tubes 20, 20a. and 22 be identical and proportioned to receive thereover the apertured portions 45 of the loose leaf sheets. i

It is of course understood that the embodiment above described and shown in the drawing is illustrative of my invention and not employed by way of limitation, inasmuch as numerous changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a loose leaf binder, two cover members, locking means for releasably holding said members at various predetermined positions with respect to each other comprising a post associated with one of said members and a locking device associated with the other member for releasable, telescopic engagement with the post, said look: ing device containing a tube, a perforated look.- ing disc pivotally mounted in the tube and adapted to receive said post through the hole therein, thedisc being operatively movable between a releasing position in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the post and a locking position in a predetermined plane oblique thereto, the size of. the hole in the disc being such as to permit free movement of the post therethrough when the disc is in said releasing position, the wall of the hole frictionally engag-; ing said post when the. disc is in said oblique locking position whereby the post will be held against movement through the hole, an actuator slidably movable within. said tube and comprising an enlarged cylindrical portion operatively connected to the disc and a stem extending out-;

wardly'from the tube, a spring mounted over the stem within the tube and. normally holding.

said actuator in its projected. position with the disc in its said locking position, and manually manipulable means associated with the portion of the stem extending out of the tube for retracting said actuator from its said projected, position against the action of said spring, where- 13y the disc will be moved to its releasing posiion.

with one of said members and a locking device associated with the other member for releasable" telescopic engagement with the post,v said locking device containing a tube, a perforated locking,

. containing two diametrically opposite extensional 2. In a loose leaf binder, two cover memberslocking means for releasably holding said m em---v hers at various predetermined positions with re-; spect to each other comprising a post associated;

the tube containing an aperture "adapted to receive one of said extensions to provide a pivotal mounting for the disc, the disc being operatively movable between a releasing position in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the post and a locking position in a predetermined plane oblique thereto, the size of the hole in the disc being such as to permit free movement of the post therethrough when the disc is in said releasing position, the wall of the hole frictionally engaging said past when the disc is in said oblique locking position whereby the post will be held against movement through the hole, an actuator slidably movable within the tube and containing at the forward portion thereof a lip having therein an aperture diametrically opposite the said aperture in the tube and adapted to receive the other of said two extensions of the disc to provide an operative connection between the disc and actuator, and means to operatively manipulate said actuator, whereby the disc may be operatively moved between its said locking and releasing positions.

3. In a loose leaf binder, two cover members, locking means for releasably holding said members at various predetermined positions with respect to each other comprising a post associated with one of said members and a locking device associated with the other member for releasable telescopic engagement with the post, said locking device containing a tube, a perforated locking disc mounted in the tube and adapted to receive said post through the hole therein, the disc containing two diametrically opposite extensions, the tube containing an aperture adapted to receive one of said extensions to provide a pivotal mounting for the disc, the disc being operatively movable between a releasing position in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the post and a locking position in a predetermined plane oblique thereto, the size of the hole in the disc being such as to permit free movement of the post therethrough when the disc is in said releasing position, the wall of the hole frictionally engaging said post when the disc is in said oblique locking position whereby the post will be held against movement through the hole, an actuator slidably movable within the tube and containing a forwardly extending lip having therein an aperture diametrically opposite the said aperture in the tube and adapted to receive the other of said two extensions of the disc to provide an operative connection between the disc and actuator, yieldable means at the rear of said actuator normally holding it in its foremost projected position with the aperture in the lip being disposed forwardly of the aperture in the tube, whereby the disc is normally maintained in said oblique locking position, and manually manipulable means associated with the actuator for retracting it from its said projected position, whereby the disc will be moved to its releasing position.

; 4. In a loose leaf binder, two cover members, locking means for releasably holding said members at various predetermined positions with respect to each other comprising a post associated with one of said members and a locking device associated with the other member for releasable telescopic engagement with the post, said locking device containing a tube, a perforated locking disc pivotally mounted in the tube and adapted 0 receive said post through the hole therein, the disc being operatively movable between a releasi position in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the post and a locking position in a predetermined plane oblique thereto, the size of the hole in the disc being such as to permit free movement of the post therethrough when the disc is in said releasing position, the wall of the hole frictionally engaging said post when the disc is in said oblique locking position whereby the post will be held against movement through the hole, an actuator slidably movable within said tube and comprising an enlarged cylindrical portion operatively connected to the disc and a stem extending outwardly from the tube, a spring mounted over the stem within the tube and normally holding said actuator in its projected position with the disc in its said looking position, an indenture in said tube disposed rearwardly of the said enlarged cylindrical portion of the actuator and adapted to limit the rearward movement of the actuator, and manually manipulable means associated with the stem for retracting said actuator from its said projected position against the action of said spring, whereby the disc will be moved to its releasing position.

SAMUEL LAZAROFF. 

